December 18, 2001

LONDON (Reuters) - Twenty-five years after making their mark as the official scourge of royalty, seminal punk band the Sex Pistols may regroup to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee, a tour promoter has said.

The gigs would take place on June 3 when Queen Elizabeth will celebrate 50 years on the throne.

"I can confirm I've been approached by a number of separate parties offering substantial sums of money for the Sex Pistols to regroup," promoter John Giddings, who organised the group's last UK tour in 1996, said on Tuesday.

He said the decision depends on whether band members can free up their schedules to perform on the Jubilee date.

The famously controversial band released their anti-royal single "God Save the Queen" in June 1977 at the same time as Her Majesty celebrated her Silver Jubilee.

The single, whose front cover bore an illustration of the Queen with a safety pin through her nose, rocketed to number one although banned from the airwaves.

Despised by authorities for their anarchist theme, the band was arrested as they performed on a Thames riverboat on the day of the Queen's 25th anniversary celebration.

Should they decide to regroup this summer with a Sid Vicious replacement, the granddaddies of punk would be playing to crowds who weren't alive when they first thrashed around on a London stage in 1976.